After hiking the JMT in 2011 and 2013 and passing on the Half Dome option (included with JMT permit), I finally went up Half Dome with a group of wonderful folks (including Miracle Marilyn) last Sunday. At first Marilyn and I weren't sure we could find lodging but our friend Krai (permit holder) let us know about cancellations in the nick of time. We were also concerned about smoke caused by the Detwiler fire in Mariposa. Although it was a bit smoky in Yosemite when we arrived on Saturday afternoon, the smoke had cleared by Sunday.

We stayed in Half Dome Camp (formerly Camp Curry -- don't even get me started on the stupid name changes ) both nights. We met Krai and other folks on his permit at the pizza patio Saturday evening and started hiking about 5 AM Saturday. I haven't been on the Mist Falls trail since 1980 -- spectacular!

That's it ?!? No pics from the top? No description of a chancy descent? Surely there is more to come...! Anyway, I'm glad you had a chance to do that adventure. I especially like the area away from the actual cliff/view where the curve of the dome makes it look like you are on the surface of a small moon. DId you wander over there and check that out? Also, as I believe I have mentioned here before, those infernal eternal stone steps before you get to Halfdome remind me of the Stairs of Cirith Ungol!

Thank you for finishing the story. If you look back at your video, right after you say, "Yeah!" as you are panning to the left is the small moon section I spoke of. If you do it again, that is such an awesome part that no one tells you to check out...in the meantime, nicely done. When you were a little girl, say 7 or 8 years old, did you ever think you would do such things? I will tell you that when I was that age, I would have deemed such feats impossible and never believed I would ever be able to do them. It's so fun to find new adventures now that we're not 7 (or fit 20 somethings) anymore! It truly fills life out to have new places to explore, new things to experience, new people to meet...thanks for your fun post sharing such an awesome adventure! Oh, and I'm glad someone else dreads those awful steps! As much as I look upon them with fear and trepidation each time I start to go up that frightful route, I find it hard to imagine the heartiness of the trail crew that built them?

Awesome TR and pics Ellen, as usual! I could never do the cable part--it makes me uneasy just to look at it. But I am very glad that you did, as I get to armchair travel somewhere amazing. Congratulations!

Q: How many therapists does it take to screw in a light bulb? A: Only one, but the light bulb has to want to change ...

Planning to hike R2R2R (with overnight at north rim) in October, weather permitting. My first R2R2R was with Kathy Wing in 2007 -- great weather (high low 80's at Phantom). My second was in 2008 (high 90's at Phantom) -- was nauseated and felt awful . We may have seen each other at Indian Gardens in 2008 -- I was looking for a shaded spot to lay down but every single area (including under the picnic tables) was taken by overheated hikers Thanks for your kind words.

Howdy Teke

Thanks -- I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go up Half Dome. I'm not a mountaineer or rock climber, so the cables are the only way I could enjoy such an awesome experience and view. I've heard rumors the cables will be removed.

Every time there is a fatality on the cables, calls for their permanent removal are heard. So far, nothing has happened. I don't believe that their have been any injuries since the permit system went into effect. When we did Half Dome, I thought that ascending was easy. Lean forward, your heels naturally dig into the granite, and make your way up. However, descending put me at the limit of my abilities. My feet kept wanting to shoot out from under me. I kept a death grip on the cables. My advice since has been: get a climbing harness, a short length of rope, and clip into the cables. Make a fall physically impossible. This technique is used in the via ferrata in the Dolomites and other places.

I am totally with you on that Richard! It was very slippery on the way down and I can easily picture someone who made it to the top fairly safely losing control on the way down. I actually ran into a little trouble on the way up as well. I had already been on the trail for a few hours (though I was coming from Tenaya Lake instead of the valley) and was probably a little dehydrated. As I started climbing I began to see spots and realized that I was breathing too fast and actually hyperventilating. My thought was, "Oh great, this is NOT the place to pass out!" Apparently that is not a very unusual occurrence because I heard another climber talking about it when I got back down to the bottom. If they removed the cables it would simple keep 99% of the visitors from being able to safely climb Half Dome without becoming fairly skilled rock climbers in advance. That sounds like a bad idea to me.

If they want to make a big positive change to Yosemite, they should drain Hetch Hetchy. Studies have already shown that inter-reservoir transfer of water between other existing reservoirs would more than compensate for the loss in capacity because the other reservoirs would be able to utilize a greater percentage of their capacity more of the time. But don't let me get started on that...!